Web winding spool

ABSTRACT

An improved winding spool is disclosed in which a grooved, tapered, single shouldered design is utilized. Easy insertion of the end of the web and removal of the completed roll of material are facilitated by the design. The spool may be molded in a single piece of inexpensive materials.

United States Patent Byram [4 1 Dec. 24, 1974 WEB WINDING SPOOL James Warren Byram, Raleigh, N.C.

Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY.

Filed: Dec. 6, 1973 Appl. No.: 422,238

Inventor:

US. Cl. 242/7l.8, 242/74 Int. Cl B65h 75/18 Field of Search 242/71.8, 71.8 A, 74, 118,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1915 Konerman 242/74 2,230,214 l/l94l Lock 242/1 18.32 3,318,549 5/1957 Macomber 242/74 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,245 5/1857 Great Britain 242/1 18.3 382,351 10/1932 Great Britain..... 356,879 10/1961 Switzerland 242/74 Primary Examiner-Edward J. McCarthy Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edward H. Duffield [57] ABSTRACT An improved winding spool is disclosed in which a grooved, tapered, single shouldered design is utilized. Easy insertion of the end of the web and removal of the completed roll of material are facilitated by the design. The spool may be molded in a single piece of inexpensive materials.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures WEB WINDING SPOOL FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to winding appartus and spools or rollers, and in particular to web winding PRIOR ART A variety of web winding devices and take-up spools have been developed for myriad purposes. In particular, those used for accounting and business machines have often relied on a rotatable spool provided with two flanges or shoulders for centering the web on the spool drum and have featured in addition, various attaching means for holding the end of the web to the drum to begin winding. Removable flanges or hubs have been used to facilitate easy removal of a completed roll or coil and even expanding diameter drums have been utilized so that easy attachment of the web and removal of the completed roll may be facilitated. The aforementioned devices have generally been made of metal and are more complex in their design than is consistent with lowered costs and good operation which are desired. In particular, the extra mechanism involved in providing removable flanges or hubs and for attaching the end of the web to the winding drum have been a source of additional mechanical complexity and manufacturing effort as well as a source of some frustration to an operator in actual manipulation of the parts during operation. Also, expanding diameter takeup drums have entailed a good deal of mechanical structure aimed at maximizing or minimizing radial contact between the take-up drum and the web material as desired during winding and during removing of the completed roll. The foregoing complexities of design have necessarily increased cost and reduced the ease with which the devices employed may be utilized.

In light of these and other difficulties known to exist with the prior art, the present invention provides a solution.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide an improved winding spool incorporating an improved Still a further object of this invention is to provide an improved take-up spool in which the roll of material being wound is held flush with a single shoulder or flange integral with the spool in an improved manner.

A further object of this invention is to improve the overall design of winding and take-up spool devices by eliminating much of the mechanical complexity found heretofore in these elements.

SUMMARY The foregoing and other objects of the invention are met by providing a unitary' molded spool of plastic or other similar inexpensive material. The spool is formed with a single flange or shoulder at one end thereof and with a tapering, fluted axial portion on which the web material is wound to form a roll. Slots axially arrayed on the body of the winding spool provide a simple and secure attachment means for the initial end of the web. The fluting and tapering of the winding spool reduce radial contact between the web and spool thereby making easy removal of a completed roll quite simple. At the same time these features provide a self-biased, guiding effect in which the web tends to ride up the taper to the shoulder or flange and ride thereagainst to form an even-edged roll.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 illustrates an oblique pictorial view of an improved take-up or winding spool in one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an end view of the improved spool shown in FIG. 1, taken from the right-hand side.

FIG. 3 illustrates an end view of the improved spool in FIG. 1 taken from the left-hand side.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated. As shown, the improved take-up spool apparatus is a one-piece structure molded, in the preferred form, of Acetal plastic; however, any of the many nylons, chlorinated or fluorinated hydrocarbons or filled plastics as well as metal, wood, etc., would be suitable. The take-up spool comprises a shoulder portion 1 which is knurled 2 for hand or manual operation. Shoulder 1 serves as a flange against which the web material may ride to form an even edged roll. The main body of the spool has a generally tapered surface 3 having fluting or grooves 4 which minimize radial contact between the spool and the web material. Longitudinal slots 5 are placed in the body of the spool for the insertion of the end of the web material during starting of winding. The diameter of the main body of the spool is greatest at the end 6 next to shoulder l, and tapers gently to a smaller diameter 7 at the opposite end. In practice, it has been found advantageous to utilize a taper of approximately 0.006 inches along the length of the spool of approximately 1.75 inches. This tapering provides two important functions: first, the tapering causes the spool to exert a selfbiasing effect on the web material being wound on it which forces the material to ride up the taper and against the flange or shoulder to form an even edgedroll without requiring an additional flange at the opposite end, as is normally utilized. The taper provides this self-biasing action on the web. The greater diameter end 6 travels at a higher peripheral or linear speed than the smaller end 7 when the take-up spool is rotated about its central axis. The greater peripheral speed in contact with the web material tends to draw harder on the edge of the web material adjacent the greater diam eter (and faster moving) portion of the surface of the spool. The taper also facilitates easy removal of a completed roll of web material from the spool since the radial contact between the web material and the spool is limited in tight contact only to the vicinity around the larger diameter end. The completed roll may be easily slid off the spool in the direction away from the flange 1 because of the taper and because of the flutings 4 and because only a small frictional contact between the slots 5 and the end of the web is necessary to begin winding. No extra clamps or devices are used to hold that end in position.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in a view taken from the right-hand end of the spool shown in FIG. 1, there is an axial bore 8 through a central molding 9 having webs 10 extending therefrom to support the outer surfaces of the spool, generally referred to as 3. The main body of the spool is preferably hollow as shown in FIG. 2 since the additional material and mass is not necessary. The web take-up slots 5 are clearly seen in this view and are preferably angled slightly from a true radial path relative to the central bore 8 so that an improved gripping and pinching effect on the end of the web material inserted therein is achieved.

As shown in FIG. 3, a view taken from the left-hand end of the spool as shown in FIG. 1, central aperture 8 extends completely through the spool. The central aperture 8 could be utilized to mount the spool either on a driven shaft or on a fixed shaft for free rotation. In the preferred embodiment, central aperture 8 is utilized as a bearing surface so that the spool rotates freely on a fixed shaft, not shown. The spool is driven by external drive means through a gear running on a mating internal gear in the back surface of flange 1 as shown by gear teeth 11.

In operation, the end of the web material is first in; serted in one of the slots 5 and the operator would manually turn the spool for a few revolutions until the web material is completely wrapped about the spool and will thereby hold the end of the material in slot 5 by its own friction and pressure. Then drive apparatus, not shown, engaging gear teeth 11 can be used to either drive the spool continuously or step wise as desired for the particular business or similar machine in which it is installed. A completed roll of web material will be formed. As stated earlier, the tapering of the main body of the spool 3 provides a self-biasing effect during wind up which forms, in conjunction with the single shoulder or flange l, a straight edged roll as desired. On completion of the winding operation, the completed roll may be stripped off the spool by manually pulling it off in the direction opposite the end where flange 1 is located. The fluting 4 and tapering of the main spool body 3 has greatly eliminated radial contact force between the completed roll and the spool so that the completed roll will slide off easily in the axial direction as noted.

ADVANTAGES The spool illustrated can be easily molded in one piece as shown, thereby eliminating many complicated assembly or other manufacturing operations. Also, the use of tapering and fluting to provide easy removal and to provide a self-biasing effect during the formation of a roll of web material eliminate the necessity of having a second flange or end piece to constrain the web material to lie on the spool during winding. This, in turn, reduces still further the amount of excess mechanical structure and also reduces the cost. It greatly simplifies the removal operation for a completed roll of material as noted above.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Web winding spool apparatus, comprising:

an axially tapered, generally cylindrical spool body;

means on said spool body for holding an end of a web material to be wound in contact with said spool body;

a flange means at the larger end of said tapered spool body for abutting an edge of said web material to maintain a straight edged formation of a roll of said web material during winding.

2. Apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein:

said tapered body is provided with axial grooves to reduce radial contact between a web and the body of said spool; and

said means for holding an end of said web material comprises an axially extending groove in said body for the insertion of an end of said web therein.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said body comprises; a hollow shell with the outer surface tapered and fluted as described; a central core, and; a plurality of web means of relatively rigid material connected to said central core and to said shell, by which means said body shell is supported.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 3, wherein;

said core has an axial bore for mounting said spool for rotation on a supporting shaft inserted in said core.

5. Apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein:

means are provided on said flange means for rotating said spool on a supporting shaft inserted in said bore. 

1. Web winding spool apparatus, comprising: an axially tapered, generally cylindrical spool body; means on said spool body for holding an end of a web material to be wound in contact with said spool body; a flange means at the larger end of said tapered spool body for abutting an edge of said web material to maintain a straight edged formation of a roll of said web material during winding.
 2. Apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein: said tapered body is provided with axial grooves to reduce radial contact between a web and the body of said spool; and said means for holding an end of said web material comprises an axially extending groove in said body for the insertion of an end of said web therein.
 3. Apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said body comprises; a hollow shell with the outer surface tapered and fluted as described; a central core, and; a plurality of web means of relatively rigid material connected to said central core and to said shell, by which means said body shell is supported.
 4. Apparatus as described in claim 3, wherein; said core has an axial bore for mounting said spool for rotation on a supporting shaft inserted in said core.
 5. Apparatus as described in claim 4, wherein: means are provided on said flaNge means for rotating said spool on a supporting shaft inserted in said bore. 